The theme for the two-​​month long Carnevale 2014 is “A pass­port to North­eastern, a pass­port to the world,” and includes 25 events that will show­case the diverse lifestyles, foods, music, and beliefs that the university’s 7,000 inter­na­tional stu­dents bring to campus.

“We are absolutely excited,” said Anis Abdulle, S’14, one of Carnevale’s four stu­dent co-​​chairs. “The main theme is to be more under­standing of dif­ferent cul­tures, which gives us the oppor­tu­nity to learn from each other.”

Monday evening’s “take off” event offered the more than 400 guests a taste of what’s to come in the next few weeks. Food offer­ings included cui­sine from Aus­tralia, Cuba, Mexico, and the Mediter­ranean region.

“Carnevale is a great event because it high­lights dif­ferent cul­tures and lifestyles we might not nor­mally get to see,” said Prince Kalu, CPS’14, events coor­di­nator for NASO. “This is really a great vibe for us.”

Jane Brown, vice pres­i­dent for enroll­ment man­age­ment, wel­comed everyone to the kick off event before intro­ducing a dance per­for­mance by Team Bollywood.

“We have such rich diver­sity here at North­eastern,” Brown said. “Carnevale is really a cel­e­bra­tion of that diver­sity and to help stu­dents develop an iden­tity as a global cit­izen and positive-​​change agent.”

It was announced during the kickoff event that Iranian-​​American come­dian and actor Maz Jor­bani would be Carnevale 2014’s guest speaker on Friday, March 14. Tickets will go on sale about two weeks before the event.

Other events planned for Carnevale 2014 include the annual ice carving com­pe­ti­tion on Sat­urday, Feb. 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Krentzman Quad. Teams will attempt to carve iconic land­marks, such as the Eiffel Tower, out of blocks of ice.

ISSI Inter­na­tional Idol on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. in after­Hours gives everyone, regard­less of singing ability, the oppor­tu­nity to per­form a song in any lan­guage or genre.

The annual fashion show is set for Sat­urday, March 22, at 7 p.m. at the Fenway Center. And Carnevale 2014 will end with its sig­na­ture event, Gala Night, on Sat­urday, March 29, from 7–9 p.m. at Blackman Auditorium.

For more infor­ma­tion and a com­plete schedule of events, please visit the ISSI web­site.

About the Writer

Joe O'Connell is a staff writer for News@Northeastern. A former newspaper reporter and editor, Joe came to Northeastern after working for three different daily newspapers in Massachusetts. Joe is a UNH grad and is finding it difficult to pick which hockey team to cheer for. When he isn't working, Joe can be found watching Boston's sports teams in their athletic endeavors, playing golf badly, and washing hospital scrubs. Follow him on Twitter @joconnell_nu

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